Beyond attacking the process that put him behind bars, Alex Mashinsky is now trying to recast Celsius’ collapse as an FTX‑driven hit job, even though he already confessed to manipulating CEL himself.

Beyond attacking the process that led to his conviction, Mashinsky is trying to recast the story of Celsius’ collapse by pinning much of the blame on FTX and its former chief executive Sam Bankman Fried.

In materials submitted to the court, he accuses Bankman Fried of attempting to “destroy Celsius” and claims that market manipulation of the CEL token was orchestrated out of FTX, not by Celsius insiders.

In December 2024, Mashinsky pleaded guilty in the Southern District of New York to one count of commodities fraud and one count of securities fraud, admitting that he “illicitly manipulated the price of CEL, Celsius’s proprietary crypto token, while he was secretly selling his own CEL token at artificially inflated prices.”

By May 2025, Judge John G. Koeltl sentenced him to 12 years in prison, three years of supervised release and forfeiture of more than $48 million in criminal proceeds, one of the stiffest penalties to emerge from the 2022 crypto lending implosions.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mashinsky misled customers between 2018 and 2022 by portraying Celsius as a safe “bank of the crypto industry” while putting user funds into risky, largely undisclosed strategies and simultaneously pumping CEL.

That conduct ultimately left users unable to access around $4.7 billion in deposits when Celsius froze withdrawals and collapsed, a shortfall later reflected in a $4.72 billion judgment the Federal Trade Commission obtained against Mashinsky personally.

In April 2026, a federal court approved an FTC order permanently banning him from crypto and broader financial services and imposing a $4.72 billion monetary judgment, with only $10 million actually payable so long as it is satisfied through his existing Department of Justice forfeiture obligations.

Cohen Pavon walks with time served as cooperation pays

Mashinsky’s motion also leans on his fractured relationship with former Celsius Chief Revenue Officer Roni Cohen Pavon, whom he now accuses of attempting a “hostile takeover” of the company.

He has gone as far as to publicly release text messages with Cohen Pavon to bolster that narrative, even though the former executive turned government cooperator and was a key witness against him.

What remains unclear is whether any judge will give credence to his new FTX centric theory of the case, or whether Mashinsky’s latest move will simply be remembered as a last ditch bid by a once celebrated crypto lender to claw back a narrative already cemented in guilty pleas, regulatory bans and billions in documented user losses.

The SEC has charged Texas resident Nathan Fuller over an alleged $12.3 million AI crypto arbitrage scheme that promised triple digit returns in weeks.

U.S. securities regulators have charged Texas resident Nathan Fuller with orchestrating a fraudulent cryptocurrency trading scheme that raised roughly $12.3 million from about 150 investors through entities including Privvy Investments between October 2022 and mid 2024, according to a litigation release from the Securities and Exchange Commission SEC.

The SEC alleges Fuller told investors he had built a proprietary artificial intelligence powered high frequency arbitrage “trading robot” that could generate extraordinary, low risk profits on crypto assets, while in reality diverting millions of dollars for personal use and running what regulators describe as a Ponzi style operation.

SEC says AI crypto robot pitch hid $12.3 million fraud

According to the complaint, Fuller marketed investment contracts that promised returns of “over 40 to 50 percent” within 30 to 45 days, and in some cases “guaranteed” returns of more than 100 percent in as little as 21 days, claims that far exceed even the most aggressive yield offerings seen during previous cycles of speculative crypto mania such as the collapse of Mirror Trading International and other arbitrage themed schemes flagged by the SEC.

Alleged Ponzi mechanics and AI hype

The SEC’s filing describes a pattern of forged account statements, fabricated documents, and false performance updates that were used to reassure investors and entice new victims, echoing recent enforcement actions against AI branded crypto scams that used fake trading dashboards, doctored screenshots, and scripted chat group “testimonials” to lure users into bogus platforms, as in a separate $14 million WhatsApp based AI tip operation detailed by the Hacker News.

Court documents cited by ChainCatcher further note that Fuller sold these products through several vehicles tied to Privvy Investments, part of a broader wave of AI infused marketing that has swept both traditional and digital asset markets since 2023 and has already drawn multiple enforcement actions for deceptive practices targeting retail investors.

The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, disgorgement of what it calls ill gotten gains plus interest, and civil penalties against Fuller, continuing a long running crackdown on crypto themed Ponzi operations that cloak themselves in technical jargon, from early bitcoin based schemes highlighted by the SEC to more recent “AI trading” clubs that promise risk free yields.

In a previous crypto.news report on SEC actions against AI labelled trading platforms, regulators warned that guaranteed double digit monthly returns in crypto or any other asset class are a red flag, particularly when the strategy is described as secret, proprietary, or too complex to explain, a pattern mirrored almost exactly in the allegations against Fuller.

Elsewhere, crypto.news has chronicled how courts have increasingly refused to treat bankruptcy as a refuge for crypto fraud operators, with judges denying discharge when they find concealed assets or falsified records, an issue Fuller has already faced in parallel proceedings over Privvy’s finances, while a separate crypto.news analysis has traced how AI hype provides cover for old fashioned Ponzi architecture dressed up in algorithmic jargon.

Given the SEC’s latest complaint and the broader pattern of enforcement, investors drawn to AI themed arbitrage pitches have one more high profile reminder that any promise of triple digit returns in a matter of weeks, especially in opaque crypto strategies, is far more likely to end in litigation than in life changing gains.

Mary Daly says the Fed cannot restore price stability by “harming the economy,” underscoring a cautious stance on rates as inflation lingers above target.

Mary Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said restoring price stability remains “crucial” for the U.S. central bank, but warned that the Federal Reserve cannot pursue that goal in a way that “harms the economy,” according to a summary of her latest remarks.

The comments, reported via Chaincatcher, signal that Daly continues to frame monetary policy as a balancing act between bringing inflation back to the Fed’s 2% target and preserving labor market strength.

Daly’s emphasis on balance builds on earlier statements where she has described policy as “in a good place” and argued the Fed can “afford patience” as it evaluates incoming data. In a prior speech, she said monetary policy must be calibrated carefully because “progress is not victory” on inflation, and that uncertainty about both price pressures and employment requires a scenario based approach rather than a single forecast path.

Daly’s balancing act on inflation

In earlier public appearances, Daly has stressed that the Fed’s dual mandate requires it to “stay on our policy course if we’re going to do our part to restore price stability,” even as she acknowledged that inflation had been “coming in too high.” At the same time, she has repeatedly warned that keeping rates “too high for too long” risks undermining employment, arguing that if restrictive policy causes mass layoffs, “you’ve given people low inflation, but you’ve taken their jobs,” which she said is “not the dual mandate.”

That tension is visible in more recent commentary, where Daly has urged a “measured, data‑dependent approach” and insisted the Fed must “work on price stability without overreacting.” Market participants have interpreted those remarks as a signal that the Federal Open Market Committee is likely to hold its policy rate in the current 5.25 to 5.50% range for longer, delaying rate cuts until there is clearer evidence that inflation is firmly on track to 2%.

Implications for markets and policy path

Daly’s latest message that price stability cannot be achieved by “harming the economy” underscores why many officials remain wary of aggressive moves in either direction. Her stance aligns with projections from banks such as Goldman Sachs, which recently pushed back expectations for the first Fed rate cut to September 2026 and now sees inflation running near 2.9%, implying restrictive policy for longer and a tougher backdrop for risk assets.

While Daly did not provide specific forecasts for growth, unemployment or the exact timing of any rate adjustments in the Jin10 summary, her comments suggest the Fed will continue to lean on incremental, data‑driven decisions rather than pre‑committing to a rapid easing cycle. For investors across bonds, equities and crypto, her insistence that the central bank must both “restore price stability” and avoid “harming the economy” reinforces the idea that the Fed is steering a narrow path between renewed inflation and a policy induced downturn.

Key Takeaways

• FedEx Freight launches as an independent company on June 1 trading under ticker FDXF
• Shareholders of FedEx receive one FDXF share for every two FDX shares owned; parent company maintains approximately 20% ownership
• When-issued trading shows FDXF around $185 per share, though analysts believe fair value could reach $275 based on Old Dominion comparables
• Management projects medium-term revenue growth of 4%–6% with operating profit expansion of 10%–12%
• Parent company FDX carries a consensus Strong Buy rating from 21 Wall Street analysts with a $423.15 average target price

The separation of FedEx Freight from its parent company is finally arriving. The less-than-truckload (LTL) division launches independent trading on Monday, June 1, debuting on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker FDXF.

As the LTL division of FedEx, this business caters to industrial clients requiring freight transportation over shorter routes without needing full truckload capacity. The company competes directly with established players like Old Dominion Freight Line and XPO.

This spinoff represents the culmination of a strategic shift. FedEx has been streamlining operations to concentrate on its primary express shipping and logistics segments. Though consistently profitable, the Freight division represented a relatively modest component of the overall enterprise.

For fiscal 2026, FedEx Freight projects revenue of $8.7 billion alongside operating income of $1.1 billion. To put this in perspective, the remaining FedEx operations are forecast to generate nearly $94 billion in revenue during the same period.

In when-issued trading ahead of the official launch, FDXF shares have been exchanging hands near $185. This represents the market’s preliminary assessment before the stock formally begins regular trading.

The Valuation Opportunity

This is where the situation becomes compelling. Old Dominion, widely regarded as the premier LTL operator, commands a forward earnings multiple approaching 40x. Meanwhile, FedEx as a consolidated entity trades at approximately 18x forward earnings. This substantial valuation disparity provides the fundamental rationale for executing this separation.

Should FDXF achieve valuation parity with Old Dominion’s trading multiple, Wall Street analysts project a fair value near $275 per share — representing nearly 50% appreciation from current when-issued levels.

However, Old Dominion maintains superior profitability metrics. The company is projected to generate approximately $1.5 billion in operating profit from $5.7 billion in revenue during 2026, reflecting materially higher margins than FDXF currently achieves.

Narrowing this margin differential will be critical for FDXF to justify a comparable valuation multiple. Management has established targets for 10%–12% annual operating profit growth over the medium term, which should support margin improvement.

For reference, Old Dominion has delivered roughly 8% average annual operating profit growth over the trailing five-year period. Analysts project this growth rate will accelerate to approximately 11% moving forward — essentially matching FDXF’s stated objectives.

Distribution Details for Existing Shareholders

Current FedEx shareholders will receive one FDXF share for every two shares of FDX held as of the established record date. The parent company will retain approximately 20% ownership in the freight operation following completion of the spinoff.

FDX stock has demonstrated robust momentum leading into this separation event — gaining more than 40% year-to-date and climbing over 80% during the trailing twelve-month period through Friday’s close.

From an analyst perspective, FDX maintains a consensus Strong Buy rating based on recommendations from 21 Wall Street analysts, comprising 17 Buy ratings, 3 Hold ratings, and 1 Sell rating. The consensus price target stands at $423.15, suggesting approximately 3% upside from prevailing price levels.

FDXF commences regular-way trading on Monday, June 1.

Payouts.com co-founders say the future of agent payments combines stablecoin rails with programmable control layers built for enterprise trust.

Payouts.com co-founders Leor Ceder and Barak Hirchson say the next wave of AI agent commerce runs on stablecoin rails, and on the programmable control layer built on top of them. In their view, wallets are a necessary foundation, but the durable enterprise value sits in what governs them.

The position adds a critical dimension to the wallet-led narrative dominating agent payments today. Juniper Research forecasts cross-border B2B stablecoin payments will hit $5 trillion by 2035, up from $13.4 billion in 2026, with B2B taking 85% of total stablecoin transaction value.

Where stablecoins win and where smart rail selection matters

Hirchson, Payouts.com’s chief solutions officer, said rail selection is decided by the recipient: country, payment method, urgency, amount, and cost all factor in. Stablecoins win cleanly in two scenarios.

The first is cross-border versus SWIFT, where wire fees and FX spreads can eat 4 to 5% of a transaction. The second is machine-to-API micropayments, where the x402 standard already routes pay-per-call API invoices in stablecoin. Crypto.news reported that AI agents have settled $73 million across 176 million transactions on crypto rails, with USDC handling 98.6%.

“PIX clears in under ten seconds in Brazil for free, UPI handles hundreds of millions of transactions a day in India at near-zero cost,” Hirchson said. “The agents that scale are the ones that can pick the right rail per transaction, not the ones locked into a single rail based on what their limited wallet supports.”

The five non-negotiable agent controls

Hirchson laid out five controls he said are non-negotiable before companies let agents transact autonomously: scoped credentials, hard spend caps enforced at the protocol level, cryptographically signed mandates, idempotency at the payment layer, and a fail-closed posture.

“This is what programmable spending actually means. You define the envelope once, the infrastructure enforces it forever, and the agent operates freely inside it,” he said. “Is the industry building these fast enough? Not uniformly.”

Some wallets shipped recently include hard caps and signed mandates, he said. Others ship with an API key and a balance, which he called the worst-case configuration for a compromised key.

What the agent payment stack looks like by 2027

Ceder said the interesting question by May 2027 will not be which stablecoin wins. It will be programmability: how granularly enterprises can define what an agent is allowed to do, how reliably that policy is enforced, and how cleanly compliance can be proven after the fact.

“The wallet wars happening right now will look the way the browser wars look in retrospect: necessary, formative, and not where the durable value got captured,” Ceder said. The compliance layer must be built into the infrastructure rather than the agent, with every payment passing a cascade of principal, account and jurisdiction checks before any money moves.

Coinbase and Cloudflare have built the x402 protocol into a fast-growing settlement rail for agents, with the standard recently joining the Linux Foundation. AWS embedded x402 into Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Payments earlier this month, while Solana and Google launched Pay.sh as a parallel route.

For Payouts.com, the bet is that the control layer above those rails is where enterprise spend will land. The agent stays autonomous. The envelope around it does not move.

The CFTC has warned regulated derivatives platforms that round-the-clock trading may suit crypto-native markets but may not work safely across every traditional asset class.

The CFTC said in a Friday advisory that exchanges and clearinghouses should carefully assess products before extending trading and clearing to a 24/7 model. The agency said some markets can support constant access because newer trading systems use blockchain networks, decentralized infrastructure, crypto collateral, stablecoins, and mobile platforms.

The warning came as the agency also allowed CFTC-regulated crypto platforms to offer perpetual futures and global options.Coinbase said in a Friday blog post that the approval lets one of its regulated affiliates add the largest and most liquid category of global crypto trading to its existing 24-hour platform.

CFTC draws line between crypto and traditional markets

According to the advisory, the agency does not view all markets the same way regarding permanent trading hours. The CFTC said agricultural derivatives may face different limits because of their customer base, regional structure, and specialized hedging practices.

The agency said some products could face thinner liquidity during off-peak hours. Under those conditions, the CFTC said markets may experience greater price swings, wider bid-ask spreads, and greater exposure to manipulation.

Under CFTC rules, trading platforms remain the first line of defense against market abuse. The agency said firms that expand trading hours should add compliance controls tailored to the risks posed by constant access.

Agency Asks Firms to Discuss 24/7 Plans

In its letter, the CFTC urged regulated exchanges and clearing organizations to speak with the agency before making major changes to trading schedules. The advisory framed those discussions as part of the agency’s oversight role, especially as market structures around crypto products change.

CFTC Chairman Mike Selig has made crypto, prediction markets, and new trading technology central issues at the agency. Under his leadership, the regulator has made several crypto policy decisions as the Trump administration pushes federal agencies to provide the digital asset industry with a clearer path.

Coinbase said its platform already supports 24/7 trading across equities, futures and prediction markets. The company said the new approval adds crypto perpetuals and global options to that lineup through a CFTC-regulated affiliate.

Gemini settlement reversal adds to policy reset

The same policy environment has also affected older enforcement cases. As previously covered by crypto.news, the CFTC moved to scrap its $5 million settlement with Gemini after deciding the case should not have been brought under the agency’s current standards.

According to a joint motion filed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, the CFTC and Gemini asked a judge to vacate the January 2025 consent order. The order had resolved allegations linked to Gemini’s proposed Bitcoin futures contract.

The request shows how the agency’s current leadership is reviewing past crypto actions while opening more room for regulated digital asset products. The CFTC is prepared to allow 24-hour crypto markets, but it wants traditional derivatives platforms to prove that constant trading will not weaken market oversight.

Coinbase has opened a regulated route for U.S. institutions to trade global crypto derivatives through its futures commission merchant.

Coinbase said on May 29 that Coinbase Financial Markets now gives eligible U.S. clients access to crypto derivatives markets, starting with Deribit options. The company described the unit as the first U.S.-regulated futures commission merchant to offer access to global crypto derivatives, including perpetual futures and options.

The launch follows action from Commodity Futures Trading Commission staff involving products listed on Deribit FZE, Coinbase’s affiliated foreign board of trade. Coinbase said institutional clients can begin onboarding immediately through Coinbase Financial Markets, while retail access is planned for a later stage.

Institutions get regulated access to Deribit options

Coinbase said the first phase will focus on Deribit options, with crypto perpetual futures, more collateral options, and other derivatives products expected later. The company framed the rollout as a way for U.S. institutions to reach markets that have long been active offshore.

According to Coinbase, crypto derivatives account for about 80% of global crypto trading volume. The company also cited Deribit data showing more than $31 billion in bitcoin options open interest as of May 28.

For trading firms, Coinbase said the access could support hedging, volatility trading, and BTC-linked basis strategies. The company added that U.S. clients previously lacked a regulated route into a market it described as having an annual trading volume of multi-trillions of dollars.

CFTC staff action supports the structure

The regulatory path rests on CFTC staff positions tied to foreign futures and margin arrangements. In its letter, CFTC staff said certain crypto asset perpetual contracts described in the request may qualify as foreign futures under Commission Regulation 30.1.

Staff also issued a no-action position covering certain transfers of customer-owned digital commodities and payment stablecoins to a foreign broker-affiliate for margin purposes. The letter said the position remains subject to the listed conditions.

Coinbase closed its $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit in August 2025, following its announcement earlier that year. The exchange said Deribit handled more than $185 billion in trading volume in July 2025 and held about $60 billion in open interest on its platform at the time.

Crypto-market reports have also linked Deribit to major Bitcoin options expiries, in which large positions can shape short-term trading around strike prices and expiry dates.

Coinbase builds institutional rails beyond derivatives

The derivatives rollout also aligns with Coinbase’s recent institutional push into fiat funding. As previously covered by crypto.news, Coinbase expanded its partnership with Standard Chartered to give institutional clients greater currency access across global markets.

The integration added funding rails for AUD, SGD, CAD, and CHF. It also added GSIB-backed settlement for EUR and GBP.

Coinbase said the service is available through Coinbase Prime and Coinbase Exchange. The company said the arrangement helps institutions manage capital across spot, derivatives, and financing strategies without forcing every position to be denominated in a single base currency.

The crypto markets are finally heating up again, and large institutional investors are lying low and waiting for their next big move, as Bitcoin has broken above $80,000 per coin following its intraday peak of $81,660. Other alternative currencies are seeing significant institutional activity, despite the market’s overall cautious attitude. There are currently four leading crypto assets that are worth watching. Some have been around for a while and have institutional backing, while others have recently emerged into play due to their upside potential.

Little Pepe is easily the smallest-risk, highest-reward pick on this list, but it’s also the one attracting speculative whale attention right now.

Priced at just $0.0022 during presale stage 13, the project has already raised more than $28.1 million, with the current round reportedly 98.44% filled at the time of writing. That kind of momentum is hard to ignore in the meme coin sector.

Unlike many meme projects, Little Pepe is pushing a bigger narrative. According to the team, they are developing a Layer-2 blockchain for meme coins, which will be fast, cost-efficient, and anti-sniper bot. The platform will also introduce a dedicated launchpad for memes on its blockchain.

It will be very beneficial for wealthy investors because the platform has already undergone the CertiK audit, been listed on CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko, and has plans to list on centralized exchanges. Rumors have started emerging about getting listed on one of the most famous cryptocurrency exchange platforms after the listing.

Another factor creating buzz is the involvement of anonymous crypto experts reportedly connected to some of the market’s top-performing meme projects.

Bitcoin (BTC)

The Bitcoin currency continues to hold the pole position, as even though there has been consolidation, the rich continue buying heavily into BTC. Bitcoin’s price is $81,700, with the total market value above $1.6 trillion. The exchange reserves are expected to be at multi-year lows, while ETF flows remain strong. However, Bitcoin is also likely to rally, despite its technical chart looking similar to what happened during past rallies. Nonetheless, BTC won’t surge 50 times as before.

Ethereum (ETH)

ETH is currently trading around $2,330, signaling a bullish move to break above $3,000 soon.

ETH current performance | Source: CoinMarketCap

Some experts predict that Ethereum may outpace Bitcoin this year if ETF flows remain positive. Network improvements, along with increased tokenized asset trading, are fueling bullish sentiment. The reason Ethereum is attractive to high-net-worth individuals at present lies in its combination of stability and growth potential. It continues to lead the way in smart contract applications, and for most funds, the current level is an accumulation area.

Solana (SOL)

SOL recently traded near $97, with trading volume and network activity picking up again.

Many investors still remember Solana’s explosive rallies from previous cycles, and some traders believe another strong run could happen if overall market sentiment improves. Compared to Ethereum, it still looks relatively undervalued to some institutional buyers.

Conclusion

For traders hunting asymmetric upside ahead of the next meme coin wave, LILPEPE is becoming one of the most talked-about presales right now.

For more information, visit Little Pepe’s official website, Telegram Community, Twitter/X Page, and the $777K Giveaway Page.

For more information about Little Pepe (LILPEPE) visit the links below:

Website: https://littlepepe.com

Whitepaper: https://littlepepe.com/whitepaper.pdf

Telegram: https://t.me/littlepepetoken

Twitter/X: https://x.com/littlepepetoken

$777k Giveaway: https://littlepepe.com/777k-giveaway/

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